


Ink, What Did You Do

by Lavender_Hope



Series: Conversations With A Creator [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Undertale Multiverse | UTMV (Undertale), Anxiety, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Gen, How are those not established tags yet?, I think? - Freeform, Ink hijacked my one shot, Ink is a chaotic gremlin but I love him, Melody is a worrier so tagging anxiety just in case, No Romance, Oh Look I'm Back, Only a little this time - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person, Platonic Relationships, Platonically of course - Freeform, Present Tense, Promise - Freeform, Social Anxiety, Tags Are Hard, This is better than the previous work in the series, i don't know what to tag, now it's multi chapter, universe hopping, universe jumping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29818740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavender_Hope/pseuds/Lavender_Hope
Summary: Melody was just trying to get rid of her writer's block. How did it end up like this?(It's all Ink's fault)
Relationships: Ink Sans (Undertale) & OC, Ink Sans (Undertale) & SI (Self Insert)
Series: Conversations With A Creator [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2191938
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	1. Writer's Block

**Author's Note:**

> Again, Ink Sans belongs to Comyet/Myebi on Tumblr!  
> Feat. CORE!Frisk, who belongs to dokudoki!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ink, looking at the title of the fic: You know, readers might mistake this fic for the one mentioned in the chapter.
> 
> Melody: ... Shit. But I don't want to change it-
> 
> (It's not. There's another one I'm working on (not posted yet), so here's a heads up! ... I now have two fics with Ink's name in the title...)

_Three Days Earlier_

Melody stares at the blinking cursor on the blank text document. “I have no idea what to write right now.”

“Sure you do!” Ink says from beside her, leaning in obnoxiously close. “Hey!”

Melody smirks. “What?”

“I’m not _obnoxious_ -“

“Yes you are,” Melody shoots back with a laugh. He’d walked right into that one. She shakes her head. “No, but seriously. What is _this_?” She gestures at the words and sighs. “This is not how I wanted to start the thing.”

“But that’s the key word, isn’t it? _Start_? This is just to get you started, that’s all.” There’s a beat of silence before he asks, “So what were you planning to write other than this?”

…

Melody doesn’t have an answer…

“Oh, come on. You must have a reason for writing this up. For bringing _me_ in. Are you stuck on something? Need some more help? We could talk about-“ Melody quickly presses her hands against his teeth, effectively stopping his words.

“Just. Can you give me a minute? If we’re going to talk about it here…”

Ink stares as the seconds stretch on, his mismatched eyes changing each time he blinks. Melody’s hands are still covering his mouth.

She pulls them away and slouches over the keyboard, chin resting against her hand with her elbow on the desk.

There’s another beat of silence, then Ink asks, “You wanna go see them?”

Melody turns away from her screen, chin still in hand, to give him a look.

“Your AU,” he clarifies, though she didn’t need him to.

She looks away again. “I’d like to, but I haven’t even shared much of it to the public yet. It’s too soon. Gotta at _least_ get a chapter of our fic out before bringing it up here.”

“Heh. Our fic, huh?”

“Yes, _our fic_ , since you’re in it and the title of the thing itself has your name in it.”

Ink laughs. “It’s _great_ , isn’t it? Readers are gonna love it, promise.”

“If you say so,” she says doubtfully, watching him from the corners of her eyes.

“Sooo,” Ink starts, leaning in a little too close again.

“Personal space, dude. You need to learn what that means.”

“Shush, you’re trying to distract us from the topic at hand.”

Melody raises an eyebrow at that. “Which is..?”

“If we’re not going to talk about your AU, then what _are_ we going to talk about? You had a reason for writing the last fic, so what have you got for this one?”

Melody sighs. “I don’t know. After posting the last one, I just wanted to write something to continue it. I didn’t think of topics to discuss while writing though.” She leans back in her seat, deep in thought as her eyes stare out at nothing.

After a long couple of minutes, Melody asks, “Could we just… pause here and come back to it later? Maybe I’ll have something then…”

Ink gives her an understanding look. “Sure, Hope. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” she mumbles as he swipes his brush across the floor, creating a portal back to his Doodle Sphere. He gives her a smile and a tiny salute before jumping in, leaving her alone in her room.

_Present_

Melody finds herself back in the Doodle Sphere, reading out a letter she’d written to Ink.

“Dear Ink, I’m stuck with my writing. I _want_ to write, but I don’t know _what_ to write. Got any advice? What do _you_ do to fight a creative block?”

“Easy,” he chimes. “I look for inspiration in the other Aus!”

Behind him is Core Frisk, shaking their head vehemently.

“Hi Corey,” says Melody. “You wanted to add to that?”

“When Ink visits the other Aus, it’s mostly to cause trouble,” they say. “Ink gets his inspiration from creating chaos wherever he goes.”

Melody snorts. “Accurate,” she snickers.

“But what’s wrong with that,” Ink asks, one of his eye lights turning into a yellow question mark as he blinks, the other a simple green triangle. “Creativity is just a form of chaos, isn’t it?”

Melody stares at him. Well, he’s not wrong? “Uhhh…?”

“Oh, hey!” He perks up, the question mark now becoming a purple exclamation point as his other eye light becomes a blue star, “We could do that now if you’re stuck!”

“Wait, what??”

“I can take you to an AU! Wouldn’t that be fun?” He starts to mumble to himself, wondering which AU to visit.

Melody backs up and glances at Core Frisk, her expression screaming “ _Help me_ ”.

“Ink,” Core says, stepping forward to move between them, “you need to remember that not everyone can accept, or even comprehend, that their worlds are…”

“Fictional?” Melody suggests when Core’s voice trails off. They nod.

“To them, their world is real,” they continue, their voice hardening into a more scolding tone, “and not something to be used as a playground.”

Ink shrugs. “But there’s so many of them out there! I don’t think it would change the _core_ of their AU if we just visited a copy on the outskirts, will it?”

Core simply shakes their head while Melody had _tried_ to fight back her smile at his pun, only for her growing amusement to turn it into a soft, suppressed laugh instead.

Ink flashes her a smile and shoots her a wink. “’Sides, the only way you’ll get better at writing is by practice. What better way to practice than by going out to meet them face to face?”

Melody shakes her head, her smile falling into more of a wince. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Look, Ink, the whole reason I’m stuck is because I have trouble writing anyone else.”

“Then you gotta _practice_ ,” he says again, wagging a finger at her. “That’s the only way you’ll get better at anything, Hope.”

Her smile falls completely and she lowers her gaze in defeat, looking away. “I know,” she says softly, a hint of guilt in her voice.

Ink and Core Frisk share a brief glance at each other before Core sighs. “I suppose a short visit to Underswap wouldn’t hurt.”

Ink instantly brightens as Melody lifts her head, eyeing them both carefully. “You mean... are we meeting-“

He wraps an arm around her shoulders enthusiastically. “Yep,” he cheers. “You get to meet _num_ _é_ _ro deux_ of the Star Sanses!”

Oh, _joy_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To elaborate on that reaction at the end, this was meant to be a _one shot_. Why do I get the feeling that this is gonna turn out longer than I planned?
> 
> Damnit Ink.


	2. Intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melody is being a worrywart and Ink is doing his best to help her out.

It’s been three days since Melody posted her second work. She’s worrying again, this time about writing her next chapter. Ink is present, though in the background, watching as she paces. There’s a beat of silence before he says, “You’re only doubting yourself because you worry, you know. If you stop worrying, there’ll be nothing to hold you back from believing in yourself.”

“Easier said than done though, Ink,” she mumbles distractedly.

“True,” he readily agrees, “but you shouldn’t stop writing because of it.” In a blip, he’s hovering in front of her, his expression more sincere than she’s ever seen it. “Let this _stay_ something fun, something that makes you happy. _Please_. Don’t worry if it’s good enough or not.” He looks at her, brows creased in concern. “I _want_ you to enjoy this.”

“I...” she looks away, jittering a leg to release her nervous energy since she stopped pacing. “I can’t promise that...“ Thoughts and emotions flash through her mind. All the stories she had started but was never able to finish, all the ideas she had, but could never make them more than that. Her guilt at continuously losing interest and dropping her stories, and fear that she’ll share it one day, only for it to end abruptly with no conclusion.

Then she remembers how she had felt three days ago, when she had just put up her second work, making it a series, and shared it with everyone she could reach.

“ _And people are_ liking it _and sharing it and-“ she’d spun around, calling out,_ “ _Ink! Ink, I did it! I’m actually doing the thing! I’m writing and sharing it and I’m actually_ excited! _I’m having_ fun!” _She’d laughed, giddy and happy_ , _like she was riding a bike for the first time without training wheels. “I haven’t felt like this since I was sixteen!_ ”

That excitement, the _elation_... it hadn’t mattered at the time if no one was interested, it hadn’t mattered to her if they read it or not. She was just happy enough to share, to spread the word that she had _made_ a thing!!

Melody looks back at Ink, holding the memory close so that she won’t forget that feeling. “But I’ll try,” she says. “I’ll try to have fun this time and not worry about how my writing looks, or nit pick the little details.” Confidence begins to bloom in her voice, “To just write because it’s _practice_ and know that this is going to help me get better at it.”

“That’s the spirit!!” Ink cheers, only to immediately throw up black gunk.

Melody jerks away from the splash zone and stares at the stuff. “...I can’t tell if that’s ink or paint,” she admits.

“Oh, heh,” he says, wiping the black off his face _with his scarf—is he serious—_ “it’s ink.”

She shakes her head. “Dude, get a tissue or something, that’s gross!”

“It’s not like it’s _dirty_ , it’s just excess ink after I absorb all the emotions-“

“It came from _you_ , it’s still gross!”

“Hey!” He protests, but they’re both laughing. He uses his brush like a mop and soon enough, all the ink is gone like it was never there in the first place.

“Thanks,” Melody says once he’s finished. “I... I’m glad you exist. Even if it’s... in a place like this.” A word document, a doodle sphere outside of reality, as a voice in her head...

Ink smiles at her. “And I’ll keep existing as long as people like you continue to remember me. Creators are the reason any of this exists in the first place. Even the ones who only create their worlds in their minds and never share it. Because it’s still there, with them. Maybe someday, they’ll get the courage to share it too. That’s all that matters.”

They stand in companionable silence for a moment, looking out at the world Ink himself had created in his Doodle Sphere. Then he turns back to Melody. “Ready to get back to it?”

She takes in a fortifying breath and lets it out in a sigh. “I guess so.” She still feels nervous, but with Ink at her side, spurring her on, she’s beginning to think it won’t be so bad.

“Then let’s go! We have a Sans to meet!”


	3. Traveling to Underswap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the whole chapter is essentially a drawn out transition scene…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aka, Melody is stalling and still rather reluctant to go
> 
> (In other words, I spent most of my time going over this chapter and rewriting it a bunch (seriously, this is like the sixth draft, ahaha...), it’s over 1,000 words, and we don’t even get to see Blue yet… But he’ll be in the next chapter! Promise!)
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter!

“Okay, can I just ask why we need to go to his AU?” Melody asks a little desperately, eyes darting between Core Frisk and Ink. “Can’t we just, I dunno, bring him here?”

“Uhhh...” Ink looks away, rubbing his skull a little sheepishly.

“His brother grounded him from leaving their universe after the last time Ink asked for his help,” Core explained, “saying something about Ink being a bad influence and wanting to keep an eye on Blue. He doesn’t even want to see Ink after that last misadventure.”

“But... isn’t Sans the older brother?”

“Not in this specific AU” says Core. “Blue of the Star Sanses is from an Underswap where Papyrus is the older one.”

…

 _What_?

“...huh...” Melody has to take a moment to wrap her mind around the thought that, even if her own personal headcanon was that all Sanses were the older brother, there would be some Swap AUs out in the multiverse where he’s not. It really shouldn’t have been a hard concept to grasp, with all the people who headcanon the swap brothers having reversed ages along with everything else, but somehow it was mind boggling.

All the little changes made, all the different choices and paths taken that created branches in a timeline, imagined and created by fans like herself, or perhaps even happening on their own by the power of the characters themselves... The thought hits her like a blow to the head, just how _vast_ the multiverse has to be, to contain every single universe that held even one little detail that made it different from the rest. “I feel like I need to sit down,” she admits. “ _Holy shit_.”

But now Ink is getting impatient. He crosses his arms. “ _Mon ami_ , you are stalling. Can we go???”

Filled with indecision and a whole lot of pressure, Melody snaps, “No! I don’t- I’m not-” then she groans. “ _Fine_! _Okay_ , yes, we can go!” In a softer voice, drowned out by Ink’s excited cheer, she adds, “ _God_ , I am going to regret this, aren’t I?”

She trails behind Ink and Core Frisk as they head for the paint bucket holding Blue’s AU, Ink talking animatedly about how he thinks the visit might go, even if no one was really paying attention to his words.

Core Frisk slows down to walk with Melody after a moment. “You know,” they say softly, as Ink continues to talk in the background, “you don’t have to go if you really don’t want to.”

Melody shrugs halfheartedly. “I know, but Ink’s right. I’ll never get anywhere if I don’t try.” Then she grumbles quietly under her breath, “He better not leave me there like he did in my other fic, though.”

“He did _what_?” Core asks, startled, as they spin to face her.

She stumbles at their sudden reaction. _Whoops, guess I wasn’t as quiet as I thought_ , Melody thinks in a panic. “No no! It’s, uh, it’s an inside joke,” she says quickly, rubbing sheepishly at her nose, “it’s just something that may or may not even happen at this point.”

“Yeah,” Ink agrees from up ahead, having stopped when Core Frisk’s startled voice caught his attention, “’sides, we didn’t get that far.” His next words come as a teasing jab, “Hope’s still gotta decide where she wants to go with it.”

She pouts. “Dude, don’t even get me started on that,” she complains. “We’ll be here all day.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re here,” he responds, gesturing to a large bucket floating in front of them. Melody stares up at it.

It has the circumference of a kiddie pool, though it went much deeper than one. Printed on the side is a symbol of a light blue circle encompassing a yellow star, with three smaller stars following the curve outside the circle along the top right part of it. There are some metal stairs leading up to a platform attached to the rim, though Melody suspects it was only there for anyone that visits Ink in his Doodle Sphere, seeing as gravity doesn’t really affect him, so he wouldn’t _need_ to use stairs.

He still chooses to climb them with her and Core Frisk though.

“Remember, Ink,” says Core as they stop at the top of the platform. “Only for a _short_ visit. You don’t need Blue’s brother to have more reason to distrust you.” Melody glances into the bucket, finding an image of a cityscape with an open sky behind it, on the surface of whatever liquid was inside. It... doesn’t really look like paint... it ripples a little like water.

“Of course!” Ink chirps. “But if Hope wants to stay longer, who am I to take her away too soon?”

She looks up at the sound of her name, but without waiting for a reply, he takes her wrist and jumps in, making her yelp in surprise as he pulls her down with him.

It is. _Very_ weird to travel by liquid, Melody can vouch for that. It didn’t feel thick like paint, but it also wasn’t thin enough to be water. Plus, somehow, she could still breathe.

Colors swirl around her, mixing and blending together like a Van Gogh painting, and in what felt like only mere seconds, the colors begin to settle and sharpen into focus.

Soon, she finds herself emerging from a puddle of water _—of all things_ —completely dry, with Ink leaning against his giant paintbrush beside her. They were in an alley between two tall buildings, and she could hear the sound of cars and pedestrians close by, muffled in the quiet space.

Melody looks around in a daze. “ _Dang_ , that was a much better experience than the first time I attempted transportation via Ink.” Indignation suddenly snaps her out of the daze and she turns to glare at the bony artist. “You have _got_ to stop pulling me into your portals without a warning, dude.”

“Aw, but it’s fun,” he says with a laugh.

“It really isn’t,” she says flatly, before shaking her head. “Are we on the surface?”

“Yep! Blue’s in a post-pacifist timeline. They’ve been on the surface for a quite a few years now. And thank you,” Ink smirks and flourishes his arms into an exaggerated bow, “for taking the Ink Puddle Express! It’s different each time.” He lifts his head to give her a conspiratorial wink, then pauses and straightens with a slight frown, rubbing his chin. “The name could use some work,” he mumbles, taking the end of his scarf to scribble something down.

Melody huffs a quiet laugh and rolls her eyes, both amused and exasperated by his antics. She gives a slight shake of her head. “Come on, you nugget. Let’s go find who we’re looking for...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus: If you think a multiverse containing all the possibilities for every little difference is mind blowing, just imagine all the AUs or projects out there having to do with the _multiverse itself_. All the different interpretations of the characters, multiplied on a wider scale as they interact with the AUs in _those_ worlds… I wonder, would that create a new multiverse in itself, or would it just act as an enclosed universe within the multiverse instead?
> 
> In other words, there’s a comic by thegrinningkitten on Tumblr where Ink asks Error if, since he’s not bound by the laws of a single AU, he creates a new multiverse every time he erases a universe; and I’ve been thinking about that ever since, haha.
> 
> You can probably tell how much I love the concept of this, huh? Haha. Let me know your thoughts?

**Author's Note:**

> (Psst, you can also find me on Tumblr [here](https://justyouraverageghost.tumblr.com/), though I'm still trying to be more active. Come say hi? [Main blog is here](https://that-shy-fanfic-writer.tumblr.com/))


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